Home Republicans stay divided over the price range blueprint to jumpstart the method to advance Trump’s agenda, placing a vote deliberate for Tuesday night in jeopardy as Speaker Mike Johnson makes an attempt to rally his rank and file.
Following a closed-door convention assembly, GOP leaders say that whereas the hope remains to be to maneuver ahead with a flooring vote Tuesday evening, it may slip additional into the week. There are a number of lawmakers who’ve splintered off to publicly oppose the measure, whereas much more maintain again their assist with the hope of extracting modifications.
“​​We’re planning to take up our price range decision as early as as we speak,” Johnson informed reporters on Tuesday, suggesting the vote could get pushed. “There could also be a vote tonight. There is probably not. Keep tuned. That is why you receives a commission. Hold round right here,” he added.
Speaker of the Home Mike Johnson speaks with reporters as he walks to the Home Chamber from his workplace on the U.S. Capitol, Feb. 24, 2025 in Washington.
Kent Nishimura/Getty Pictures
Home Majority Chief Steve Scalise is actively defending the price range — contending that Democrats are “mendacity” after they assert that Republicans are primed to make deep cuts to Medicaid.
“This invoice would not even point out the phrase ‘Medicaid’ a single time, and but, all Democrats are doing is mendacity about what’s within the price range as a result of they do not wish to discuss concerning the reality,” Scalise stated. “As a substitute of simply sitting again and licking their wounds that they are fully out of contact with the American individuals, their solely alternative is to resort to mendacity about what’s on this vote as we speak. There isn’t a Medicaid on this invoice. There aren’t any Medicaid cuts on this invoice. But that is all they’re saying.”
Whereas the blueprint itself doesn’t point out Medicaid immediately, it units a objective of at the least $2 trillion in cuts to necessary federal spending, which incorporates funding for entitlement packages like Social Safety and Medicare.
US Home Majority Chief Steve Scalise, Republican of Louisiana, holds a duplicate of the Home Republican’s price range invoice throughout a press convention following the Republican Convention assembly, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on Feb. 25, 2025.
Saul Loeb/AFP by way of Getty Pictures
Johnson and his management group have labored for weeks to mollify considerations — an effort the speaker says will proceed with holdouts Tuesday afternoon. Presently there are 4 public no votes together with Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, Tennessee Rep. Tim Burchett, Ohio Rep. Warren Davidson and Indiana Rep. Victoria Spartz. The speaker can solely afford to lose one defection earlier than a second betrayal kills the hassle.
Following the assembly, Massie quipped that GOP leaders have “satisfied him” to vote no — predicting the measure would truly improve the deficit by billions of {dollars}.
Rep. Thomas Massie speaks to reporters as she arrives for a Home Republican caucus assembly on the U.S. Capitol, on Feb. 25, 2025, in Washington, D.C.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Pictures
Nonetheless, Johnson defended the blueprint.
“The target and our dedication has at all times been deficit neutrality. That is the objective right here. If we will scale back the deficit, even higher,” Johnson stated responding to accusations that the plan would improve the deficit.
Some extra Republicans are undecided together with New York Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, stressing she is performing on behalf of her getting older constituency.
“I am nonetheless undecided, however I am leaning extra in the direction of sure as a result of I’ve gotten some readability and assurances that make me really feel comfy permitting this course of to maneuver ahead,” she stated. “Now we have to guarantee that management consists of these of us who’ve massive Medicaid populations in that course of.”
Self-proclaimed “price range hawk” Georgia Rep. Wealthy McCormick stated he is nonetheless “in discussions” on whether or not or to not again the decision.
“I might like us to be extra aggressive on spending cuts so we will save on issues like Social Safety, Medicare, Medicaid,” he stated.
“I’m attempting to determine precisely what this entails… how this invoice goes to have an effect on the precise exhausting numbers, and that is what I am considering,” he stated.
Home Democrats gathered on the Capitol steps Tuesday afternoon to protest an “assault” on democracy and the “reckless Republican price range.”
Home Minority Chief Hakeem Jeffries led the group of lawmakers, declaring that Democrats have unified their opposition towards the measure.
“So let me be clear, Home Democrats is not going to present a single vote to this reckless Republican price range, not one, not one, not one. They won’t get a single Democratic vote. Why? As a result of we’re voting with the American individuals,” he stated.
Jeffries stated the GOP price range plan “represents the biggest Medicaid minimize in American historical past,” including that “kids will probably be devastated. Households will probably be devastated. Folks with disabilities will probably be devastated. Seniors will probably be devastated. Hospitals will probably be devastated; nursing houses will probably be devastated.”
“All the pieces we care about is beneath assault. The economic system is beneath assault. The security internet is beneath assault. Our very lifestyle as a rustic is beneath assault. Democracy itself is beneath assault. Donald Trump, the administration and Home Republicans are hurting the American individuals,” he stated.
